Montreal – A City That Supports Healthy Lifestyles

The city of Montreal has got to be one of my favorite destinations. I guess I may be slightly biased because my daughter goes to university in Montreal. But there really are a lot of things that make this city so appealing. One of my favorites is the way that Montreal makes use of active transportation which helps its population to adopt healthy lifestyles. And healthy lifestyles means a healthier population.

How have they accomplished this?  Starting with a network of bike paths that measures more than 560 km, Montreal has been ranked the fourth best city for cycling in North America. There are a lot of bikes in Montreal and it’s not just about students on bikes. People of all ages use bikes as an inexpensive and healthy active mode of transportation.

And things have gotten even better for cyclists in Montreal with the launch of a public bike system called BIXI last year. (the name BIXI is really a combination of the words bike and taxi). This innovative service makes some 5,000 public bikes available to the public across the city, making it even easier for people to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

In fact, BIXI has become an alternative means of urban transport. It’s accessible to everyone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, three seasons of the year, from May to November.  And how does a public bike service work? The city put its partner, Stationnement de Montréal, in charge of developing and managing the BIXI self-service bike system, as the organization had extensive expertise with computerized parking meters.

You take a bike from a BIXI station when you need one and leave it at any BIXI station when you arrive at your destination. And how do you know if there’s a space at the BIXI near your destination to leave the bike? Well – there’s an app for that! How’s that for convenience.  And believe it or not, the first 30 minutes on your BIXI is free with affordable rates for additional time. The system is both simple and original and a boon to health and wellness.

Montreal is the first North American city with a self service bike network of this size and is supporting the service by promoting its bike paths to BIXI users and tourists. The map also indicates the location of BIXI stations – just in case you don’t have an iPhone.

A great city with a great urban transportation plan that supports healthy lifestyles. A word of caution – driving in Montreal can be a bit tricky with all of those bike paths and cyclists on the road. So be careful.